ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College football team lost its first Liberty League game of the season to Union College on Saturday, 19-14, at Bertino Field at Butterfield Stadium. The Bombers are now 5-2 overall on the year and 4-1 in League play.

It was a rough first quarter and first half for the Bombers, but the offense picked up over the final 30 minutes of the contest.

IC possessed the ball for just 1:44 of the first quarter and fell behind, 7-0, with less than two minutes to go on a 1-yard touchdown run the D.J. Wright. During that drive, the Bombers had the Garnet Chargers well behind the sticks at 3rd and 20, but a sack along the sidelines was negated on a targeting call. Union would use that gift to rattle off a 19-play, 80-yard drive that took up nearly 10 minutes of clock.

The score remained 7-0 through the second quarter and the Bombers did not pick up their initial first down of the contest until there was less than seven minutes to go in the half. IC then began to find some offensive success and moved into scoring position, but missed a 41-yard field goal to keep the game at 7-0 heading to halftime.

IC produced just 12 yards of offense before that drive and finished the first half with 96 yards, while Union racked up 160 yards.

The Bombers received the second half kick, and a 39-yard return from Anthony Mestre ignited a spark that IC needed. Ithaca picked up two third downs on the drive, and then Michael Reed completed three straight passes to move down to the doorstep and set up a 2-yard plunge for Reed to tie the game at 7-7 with 9:53 to go in the period.

Union answered quickly and pushed the ball deep inside IC territory with a 47-yard pass down to inside the 5. A few plays later, Patch Flanagan found Owen Corrigan for a 3-yard score and the Garnet Chargers made the PAT following a 15-yard penalty on the touchdown with just under six minutes remaining.

The Bombers responded a 21-yard completion to Nicholas Lang, along with a 26-yard run from Reed to place the ball at the Union 3-yard line to end the quarter.

IC would not be able to come up with any points, however, as the Bombers turned the ball over on downs at the 2-yard line less than two minutes into the final period.

Union managed to flip the field by moving out towards the 50 and then punting the ball down to the IC 12-yard with 7:20 on the clock.

IC ate up the next five minutes and tied the game back up at 14-14 on a 17-yard strike from Reed to Ryan Watson on the first snap after the two-minute timeout.

Unfortunately, Union answered with a long third down conversion on a 32-yard catch down to the IC 26 with 18 seconds to go. An 11-yard run followed to spot the ball at the 15 and Francesco Pileggi came on to boot a 32-yard field goal with :03 on the clock to make it 17-14.

A few laterals on the kickoff pushed the Bombers into their own endzone and the game ended on a safety for the 19-14 final.

Reed threw for 147 yards and a score and rushed for 68 more yards and another touchdown. Tian Murray had seven catches for 92 yards and Lang finished with 52 yards on four receptions.

Sam Tourangeau anchored the defense with 13 total tackles, while Jake Green and Ryan Burns each finished with eight stops.

Total yardage was fairly even at the conclusion of the contest, with a slight 349-315 edge in favor of Union. The Garnet Chargers did rack up five sacks on defense.

IC looks to get back on track next Saturday, November 1 at home against Buffalo State for Senior Day.